RftG

I do not have a virtual desktop as far as I know, but what I do have is orders for Round 13.

Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
omnis: Phase V - Produce
Laga: Phase V - Produce

Phase II (Develop) is first. Laga draws 1 card from Interstellar bank, but passes on playing a development.

omnis also passes.

Connie plays the 6-cost development, New Galactic Order. She gets -1 cost for choosing this phase, 1 cost from Investment Bank and -2 cost from Galactic Federation, so she winds up paying a grand total of 2 cards. This card gives her +2 military strength. At game end, it's worth her military strength in VPs (currently 3 VPs); it also increases the value of Galactic Federation by 2 VPs. She then draws 1 card from Public Works.

Cards are going out now.

RftG

Phase V (Produce): everyone now has four production worlds, and produces four goods.

Connie produces 2 Blue goods, 1 Green good and 1 Yellow good. She discards 1 card to produce on Damaged Alien Factory. She then draws 2 cards from Lost Species Ark World.

omnis produces 2 Blue and 2 Brown goods. He then draws 4 cards, from Comet Zone, Galactic Studios and Mining Conglomerate.

Laga produces 3 Blue and 1 Green goods, and also draws 4 cards, from Gem World and (mostly) Consumer Markets.

Cards are going out now. That concludes Round 13, nice and easy. Everyone, please send me your choice of Action card for Round 14.

Please note: Connie now has 11 cards in her layout. If she plays one more, it will end the game. There are 10 VPs left in the pool, and 12 goods sitting on peoples' layouts. If Phase IV is selected and the pool exhausted, the game will end. Basically I'm saying it's very likely that this will be the last round. Bear that in mind when choosing your action.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 13
Connie Neil
Layout
Damaged Alien Factory (Military Yellow Production World) + good
Artist Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Public Works (Development)
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Lost Species Ark World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
New Vinland (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Federation (6-Cost Development)
Smuggling Lair (Non-Military Brown Windfall World)
Terraforming Robots (Development)
Investment Credits (Development)
New Galactic Order (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 5
Victory Points: 9
Layout Value: 13
6-Cost Developments: 10

omnis
Layout
Galactic Trendsetters (Non-Military World)
Public Works (Development)
Comet Zone (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Galactic Engineers (Non-Military World)
Secluded World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Mining Conglomerate (Development)
Volcanic World (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 9
Victory Points: 9
Layout Value: 14
6-Cost Developments: 0

Laga
Layout
Old Earth (Non-Military World)
Distant World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Consumer Markets (Development)
Investment Credits (Development)
Galactic Survey: Seti (6-Cost Development)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 10
Victory Points: 8
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 6

VP Pool: 10

Connie currently holds a 6-point lead over Laga, with omnis 3 points behind second.

rftg

The draws have been very kind to me

oops I meant Virtual Tabletop.

RFTG

Please note: Connie now has 11 cards in her layout. If she plays one more, it will end the game. There are 10 VPs left in the pool, and 12 goods sitting on peoples' layouts. If Phase IV is selected and the pool exhausted, the game will end. Basically I'm saying it's very likely that this will be the last round. Bear that in mind when choosing your action.

The suspense is killing me!

RftG

Wait no longer! Orders are in.

Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
omnis: Phase II - Develop
Laga: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)

Three phases this round. It now looks certain that this will be the final round. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.

Phase II (Develop) is first. We start with Laga's card draw from Interstellar Bank. And now we can go back to the suspense as I check whether this draw changes her COs.

Tonight Ryan reached a gaming milestone. I was playing him at Race for the Galaxy. He pulled a fine all-round game, with over 20 VPs from consumption, ditto the value of his layout. He picked up 15 prestige points and 11 points from goals (we don't use these, they're more advanced rules items). He added good points from 6-cost developments like Galactic Federation and Free Trade Association (he had 5 Blue production worlds).

When we added everything up, he'd clocked 101 points. His first game cracking 100! He's very proud. (He really deserved the win; alas, his daddy pulled 120 points. I started as the Imperium Warlord; finished with five Rebel military worlds and five Imperium cards, and four 6-cost developments that rewarded just those types of cards. 221 points between us makes it our highest-scoring game ever.)

RftG

And now! We return to this, the final round. With no incentive to save cards, everyone has a development to play in Phase II, and a world in Phase III. Phase II (Develop):

omnis plays Trade League for 5 discards - 1 off for choosing this phase. This 6-cost development lets him trade a good in Phase IV even without choosing Phase IV ($) as his Action card, not that that matters now. More importantly, it's worth 2 VPs per development with a trade power (including itself), plus 1 VP per world with a trade power. It's worth 5 VPs. He then draws 1 card from Public Works.

Laga plays Export Duties for free; -1 cost from Investment Credits reduces the cost to zero. This development gives +1 card when trading.

Connie gets -3 cost from Galactic Federation and Investment Credits. She uses it to play Terraforming Guild for 3 discards. This 6-cost development gives her a card draw whenever she plays a world, and lets her produce on a windfall world in Phase V. More importantly, it's worth 2 VPs per windfall world in her layout, plus 2 VPs per Terraforming card (including itself). It's worth 6 VPs, and also adds 2 VPs to the value of Galactic Federation. She then draws 1 card from Public Works.

Cards are going out now.

RftG

As we move into Phase III, Connie extends her lead, while omnis overtakes Laga for second place. Can he hold onto it?

Connie plays Runaway Robots. This is a Brown windfall world, and a 1-defence military world. Connie's strength is up to 3. She then draws 3 cards: 1 for choosing this phase, 1 from Terraforming Robots and 1 from Terraforming Guild.

omnis plays Pilgrimage World. This costs 0 discards, but is worth 2 VPs.

Laga plays Merchant World for 4 discards. This card gives +2 cards when trading; Laga could now trade a Blue good to draw 8 cards. In Phase IV, it also allows her to discard up to 2 cards from her hand for 1 VP each. Phase IV is next.